Miracles Great and Unexpected

This morning I was listening to Ronald Rasband's talk "Behold! I Am a God of Miracles." I listened with a particular miracle in mind that I have been praying for for a while. And Elder Rasband said, "Through faith, the miracle will come, though not necessarily on our timetable or with the resolution we desired. Does that mean we are less than faithful or do not merit His intervention? No. We are beloved of the Lord. He gave His life for us, and His Atonement continues to release us from burdens and sin as we repent and draw close to Him."

He continued to share a few examples of how people have received miracles that they were not expecting or received a different miracle than what they had hoped. Among these examples was an example of those who mocked Christ to come off the cross, which he could have done and would have been a miracle. The greater miracle was the fact that He stayed on that cross and suffered death, so that all humans could live again and be free of the sins and stains of this world. It was a much greater miracle than what the people taunted.

The day I get married will be a miracle. Nothing short of Divine miraculous wonder will be the day I get married. And I pray for that miracle. In the past few years though, I have found that my not being married is actually more miraculous than if I currently were married. It hurts sometimes, but I know that it is the will of God. I thought of the miracles I have seen in the last few years. I want to share a few things that have happened. And this might be very personal to some of the people who read my blog, but I want to let you know that I have been truly blessed because of you.

I have been told an inordinate number of times in my life that I was either the reason someone did not kill themselves or was the reason they were glad that their attempts were not successful. I have had the opportunity to be there at times when people were seriously contemplating killing themselves. This has happened in my work and in my personal life. And in many of these cases, if I were married, I most likely would not have been there for those people. Maybe someone else could have or would have been there, but for some reason God let me. And I'm so glad that He did.

I have seen so many of these friends, family, and patients continue with life and have greater joys come into their life because they continued on. And I have received so much joy from them. I am able to see several of you experience the great happinesses and adventures that life has to offer, and because of that I also receive happiness.

So as Rasband's talk wrapped up, I found myself standing in front of my bathroom mirror crying. I stared at the crazy-haired girl that sometimes feels aimless and wishes for different circumstances, and I realized that I was a miracle. I, a single girl, am a miracle. And I just stared and cried and realized how much I am. Lots of times we think miracles are for changing what's going on, but really the miracles are the fact that we are able to do so much. The miracle is that Jesus Christ died and suffered in Gethsemane for us and made it possible for us to access His power and find peace and joy. The miracle is that we sometimes see just how much power God gives us and how many people are allowed to come into our lives. Sometimes the miracle is that we find worth in ourselves.

I know I don't look like much. I know that this is a terrible picture of me. However, it's literally what I was staring at as I was crying to myself this morning about wanted and unreceived miracles and unexpected yet heart-wrenching and -warming miracles.

You are a miracle. Even if you take awkward bathroom selfies and have crazy hair. You are a miracle because you are His and have the capability of accessing the power of God and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. You are a miracle because you choose to keep on moving forward. You are a miracle.

The Dole Whips of Singlehood

My family had been planning a Disneyland 2020 trip for a few years. So, at the beginning of 2019, I said that if I wasn't married by the Disneyland trip, I would buy myself seven dole whips (blog post link for proof here). I'm apparently the type of person who eats her feelings. The reward for getting married was being married even though my family members tried to convince me it was to buy eight Dole Whips. As of the end of December 2019 when my family started our Disneyland trip, I was not married and had to buy myself seven Dole Whips. It has now taken me almost a year and a half to finally get those Dole Whips. I completed my quest this week. Here are my Dole Whips and photogenic self. Despite the faces, I enjoyed all of them.

Number 1: Lemon with Blue Raspberry slush that was pretty good despite it being lemon flavored. My brother had to help me eat it.

Number 2: Pineapple-Raspberry swirl. It was good. I wish I had tried a few more swirl flavors.

Number 3: Pineapple. The OG. It was delicious.

Number 4: Coconut with Pineapple juice. My brother and I found a bunch of Dole floats at Disney World. This is by far my favorite. The coconut dole whip is fantastic. And mixed with pineapple juice is amazing. If you ever go to Disney World, this is the float you must get.

Number 5: Pineapple. You can't go wrong with the pineapple. Except I cut my tongue on the plastic cup.

Number 6: Pineapple with Watermelon, Strawberry, and Coconut syrup. Not my favorite but good to try once. I couldn't really taste specifically watermelon, strawberry, or coconut, just kind of weird flavor mixed with the pineapple.

Number 7: Orange with Strawberry Fanta. It was delicious. I forgot that I like strawberry Fanta.

Well, if you wanted to know why I'm single it's because I only eat sugar and spend all my money going to Disney parks. Okay, that's not the reason, but it probably doesn't help. Thanks for looking at my weird pictures.